David Axelrod On Why America Seems Divided

Many believe that media literacy is an essential component to education, and our partner The LAMP explains how it could lead to a less divided country.

“Mr. Axelrod’s statement is exactly why I started The LAMP, which brings basic media literacy training and tools to communities nationwide, but I would add that the problem has to do with more than the media. Presidents Washington, Lincoln and Roosevelt may not have had to deal with Twitter rants and obnoxious GIFs, but they faced hostile media environments, and ultimately had to trust that Americans were intelligent, inquisitive people who could think for themselves. Perhaps the bigger problem now is media literacy.

I don’t mean to suggest that there ever was a golden age when everyone understood how, why, for whom and by whom media are made, or when everyone had the needed tools and skills to produce and distribute their own messages. But there seems to be a gradually willing contract between the American media and the American people to deceive and be deceived, to allow our fears, egos and bank accounts to govern discourse at the expense of rational thought, or even an acknowledgment of our own subjectivity.”

By D.C. Vito
Photo/ Joe Raedle, Getty

Interested in finding out more? Read the full article at The Lamp.